Okay, let's talk about fitness influencers for a second and a couple of key takeaways that are important when you are seeing things online.
I saw a great post from a self proclaimed "former influencer" about the things she regretted from her days of posting about fitness online.
Her top two things were:
1. Posting ab workouts
2. Posting what she ate in a day
Here's why she regretted them.
She said she would post ab workouts because they would get by far the most views. And more views=more influence=more money.
She would show up at 4am to the gym so it was empty to film these.
She now feels bad because what she didn't disclose in her videos is that ab workouts won't give you visible abs.
Having a very low body fat percentage is what will give you visible abs and she had a very low body fat percentage.
Some of your best exercise for core strength and being able to see your abs once your body fat is low enough are actually exercises like squats, deadlifts, farmers carry, one arm rows and other single arm or single leg exercises. It takes a lot of core strength to be able to stabilize yourself during loaded exercises.
Takeaway.
Please don't do crunches thinking this is going to get you to see your abs. Abs are about fat loss and fat loss is going to happen through nutrition first along with exercise and other healthy habits.
Now, why is it bad that she posted what she ate in a day?
Well, she also wasn't disclosing something here too. While she posted a great day of eating, she did not post that she was doing several hours of cardio per day to maintain her low body fat percentage.
So she was burning a shit load of calories that would be far more than us average people would have time for or should even think about doing.
So while it was a good nutrition plan, if I ate the same things I wouldn't be as lean because I wouldn't be burning as many calories.
There is a lot more to influencers and how unethical their practices can be but I will leave it here because I think these two things are really important for you to understand when you see things online and aspire to look like someone else.
You are never seeing the full picture or the truth.
And you are pretty awesome just the way you are. You probably have some amazing fitness goals that you are working on.
Comparison is normal, but it's important to remember that there is only one you and there only ever will be. So you've got to just focus on your own journey that is making you feel awesome.
And most people need a lot of support in their journey. You don't have to do it alone. Ask for help from others when you need it. That's a good thing :)
